At the West Coast’s buzziest marisco stall, chef Gilberto Cetina’s menu bursts with flavor—and blows dated notions about Mexican cuisine out of the water.

If you manage to snag a table at the buzzy Los Angeles marisco stall Holbox, you can expect to encounter more than food. Sure, you probably came to munch on its next-level baja fish tacos, tangy ceviches, and spicy pulpo, but you might also rub elbows with chefs fresh off their shifts, an Angelonian in flip flops eager to sample this week’s catch, or an influencer reviewing Yelp’s number one restaurant of 2025.

The act of packing into the Michelin-starred counter tucked in Historic South-Central Los Angeles’s Mercado La Paloma is part of the charm of chef Gilberto Cetina’s passion project turned commercial success. Since earning his industry stripes—including prestigious accolades, like a semifinalist nomination for this year’s James Beard Awards for Outstanding Chef—Cetina is focused on soaking up the moment while continuing to serve diners braving long lines to eat up his punchy creations. His business went relatively unscathed by the city’s recent wildfires, but the devastating crisis served as a reminder of how fickle the industry is. When asked what’s next, he bristles a bit. “It’s really just enjoying what we’ve built and trying to keep that star for a few years,” Cetina tells Latina. “We like where we are and we love what we do and we just want to continue to do it better.” 

Rethinking Mexican Mariscos

With no formal training but a lifetime supporting his family’s culinary business ventures while growing up between California and Mexico, Cetina opened Holbox’s doors in 2017 determined to do Yucatan-style seafood justice within Los Angeles’ food scene. “It was always supposed to be a side project, a little place for me to hang out and have fun with fish,” he says of the outpost neighboring his dad’s restaurant Chichen Itza.

Holbox has since evolved to encompass the different coastal regions of Mexico through the lens of seasonal locally sourced Southern California produce and seafood. Embracing the simplistic spirit of Mexican cooking that centers fresh ingredients and traditional flavor profiles, Cetina’s lively dishes burst with spice, chili-fueled acid, and heat. 

“I knew that the reason that all of the marisco spots in Los Angeles kind of tend to taste the same [is] because they’re all working with a certain set of ingredients priced appropriately for what the expectation is of Mexican food,” Cetina says.

One way Cetina stands out is his deep appreciation for corn, a staple in Mexican cooking he’s seen overlooked at other marisco restaurants, with the ingredient often being overpowered by beautiful fish. He takes pride in Holbox’s handmade tortillas, which are crafted by former staffer Fátima Juárez’s Komal Molino. The masa shines in the laborious multistep dehydrated and fried crunchy tostadas raspadas currently paired with local white sea bass ceviche in a salsa macha avocado cucumber puree.

“I knew that all the marisco spots in L.A. tend to taste the same [because] they’re all working with a certain set of ingredients priced appropriately for what’s expected of Mexican food.”

Then there’s the mesquite grill, a vessel through which Cetina channels his reverence for the primal spirit of cooking a freshly caught fish on a stick over a fire on the beach. He gushed over spot prawns, a recent highlight on the menu. The delicacy is found at over a thousand feet of the ocean’s depth then kept alive in tanks until their heads are fried then bodies and tails left raw marinated in chile, even the most seasoned seafood lovers can’t comprehend a shrimp’s texture could taste so fresh.

Falling in love with seafood while spearfishing and catching conch and octopus on the coast of Yucatan as a teen, Cetina no longer dives for his supper, calling it a “young man’s game.” He now collaborates with local fishermen who help him navigate the challenges of sustaining a seafood restaurant amidst climate change and economic uncertainty, informing the menu by tipping him off when there’s an overabundance of invasive species like box crabs. Staying clear of giant seafood distributors also keeps costs stable and protects Cetina against some of the shocks felt by other restaurant owners impacted by tariffs, labor immigration laws, and the supply chain.

Challenging the “Cheap Taco”

Cetina never imagined his curiosity of the sea would lead him to a project like Holbox. Throughout his youth, food was always a means of survival for his family, but spending weekends helping his parents make tamales to make rent led him to reject the craft. He attempted to fight off what seemed like his preordained fate by studying computer science instead. “I didn’t think cooking was in my future,” he said. “I thought I was gonna be the next Bill Gates.” When his dad first needed an extra pair of hands to help realize his dream at Chichen Itza, he volunteered to do everything from take out the trash to work in front of house. What was supposed to be a temporary stint training a chef in his dad’s approach in 2010, turned into an obsessive attempt to master the kitchen that hasn’t waned.

Despite his determination, Cetina didn’t hit the ground running when he ventured off on his own. Holbox didn’t resonate with diners at first, “It created a business that was not easy to sell, and it was hard to get customers on board,” he said. People weren’t ready to spend $7 on a taco at the time, which Cetina believes reflects the misconception that Mexican food should always be cheap. Even a rave review didn’t move the needle.

Then, just as Holbox gained traction with local media and online in 2019, the team was forced to confront the COVID-19 pandemic months later. “It completely stopped us in our tracks,” Cetina said. He anticipated it’d take another couple of years to regain their footing.

But instead Holbox met the moment and continued to grow in popularity. Locals leaned into a place where they could indulge in a satisfying meal in an unpretentious setting. “I think customers were hungry for that human connection and [to be] in a space that felt like community,” he said. “It’s a combination of different people from different backgrounds, cultures, different parts of town, different towns, different states, that love good quality seafood, marisco fanatics.”

Now on a pricier, twice-a-week tasting menu that serves just 16 guests nightly, Cetina pushes the boundaries of traditional Mexican seafood with fun and cheeky offerings like abalone tamales, fish head pâté, and stuffed cabbage with fish sausage. Though he admits it’s probably not the most fiscally sound endeavor, it brings him joy, “That’s probably a very selfish project on my end.”

“Customers were hungry for that human connection—to be in a space that felt like community.”

Cetina remains committed to serving bold quality food, no matter the setting. While inspiring meals can be found in markets and street vendors around the world, he feels the U.S. is behind on embracing these spaces. He believes his approach in the kitchen wouldn’t change if the food were served in a high-end white tablecloth dining room.

“Lack of a maître d’ or a hostess, a wine list, and a white tablecloth doesn’t define the quality of a food experience,” he says. “There’s something really beautiful and super appealing to me about striving for excellence despite being in a humble setting. The fact that we’re in a mercado, it’s not a reason to not put everything that we can into the cooking.”

These cookbooks by chefs all over the world cover everything from ceviche and lomito to sourdough and sofrito. While you’re at it, check out our holiday guides for the best gifts from Latin-owned brands and the best wellness gifts. All products are hand-selected by Latina editors. If you buy something through one of our links, we may receive an affiliate commission.

Even in the age of cooking apps and aspirational Pinterest boards, there’s still nothing quite like flipping through a cookbook earmarked with favorite recipes and annotated with handwritten notes. While many recipes are often passed down by word of mouth in Latinx families, chefs from across the diaspora are prioritizing the preservation of culturally significant dishes and equipping the next generation with the tools to ensure the roots of our food aren’t lost. If you’re searching for the perfect holiday gifts to give your favorite foodie, one of these beautiful cookbooks is sure to be a hit.

Whether you’re an experimental chef eager to recreate the comforting snacks of your Dominican childhood but only have access to your bodega, a food historian seeking a deep dive into the culinary legacies of Latin America more broadly, or a veggie-lover embracing plant-based spins on nostalgic dishes, this curated list highlights authors who offer passports to your next food adventures without having to leave home. Here are 15 of the best cookbooks to gift or add to your own wishlist from James Beard Award-winning chefs to viral Instagram bakers that serve as guides for the sizzling barbecues of Argentina to the soulful stews of El Salvador, and celebrate the diversity and evolution of Latin and Caribbean cuisines.

For the Wanderluster

1. Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen, Gonzalo Guzmán with Stacy Adimando ($30, Bookshop and Amazon)

Inspired by Napolito, Gonzalo Guzmán’s popular San Francisco restaurant, the chef (along with culinary author Stacy Adimando) shares simple yet impressive recipes that spotlight the range of Mexico’s regional culinary differences from Puebla to Yucatán. Featuring dishes like crispy red quesadillas with braised pork, tamales with red spiced sunflower seed mole, and toasted corn with crema and queso fresco, this approachable cookbook combines essential Mexican techniques with thoughtful cultural insights. 

2. The Simple Art of Rice, JJ Johnson ($35, Bookshop and Amazon)

The acclaimed James Beard Foundation Book Award winner’s second publication is an ode to rice across cultures and cuisines featuring a foolproof guide to cooking the versatile grain. JJ Johnson’s recipes influenced by diverse traditions from across the globe push you to think outside of the white rice box and include dishes (like Liberian jollof and Filipino champorado) while taking the reader on an educational journey through the culinary staple’s deep history and significance.

3. Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and Rituals from the Soul of Colombia, Mariana Velásquez ($35, Bookshop and Amazon)

This visually stunning and heartfelt tribute to Colombian cuisine from Mariana Velásquez, a Michelle-Obama-approved recipe developer, blends traditional dishes with modern cuisine. Featuring recipes from classics like arepas and empanadas to inventive creations like tamarind pork tenderloin with mint and spicy papaya gazpacho, this cookbook captures Colombia’s hospitality and array of flavors and customs.

4. Diala’s Kitchen: Plant-Forward and Pescatarian Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel, Diala Canelo ($30, Barnes & Noble and Amazon)

Inspired by her culinary explorations of cities like Barcelona, Santo Domingo, and Florence, chef Dialo Canelo (known as @dialaskitchen on Instagram) shares vibrant, vegetable-forward, and pescatarian-friendly recipes. Rooted in fresh, local ingredients, and a love for bold touches, her star dishes range from salmon tacos with chipotle crema to coconut flan.

5. The Cuban Table: A Celebration of Food, Flavors, and History, Ana Sofía Peláez & Ellen Silverman ($35, Rizzoli and Amazon)

Food writer Ana Sofía Peláez and photographer Ellen Silverman uncover the lore and family secrets behind authentic Cuban cooking. With timeless recipes and beautiful presentation, this contemporary explores the country’s rich cuisine and culture through the insights of home cooks, chefs, and food writers from Cuba, Miami, and New York.

6. Ceviche, Martin Morales ($31, Amazon)

This introduction to Peru’s vibrant culinary scene from Martin Morales, owner of the London’s acclaimed SoHo restaurant Ceviche, offers a look into the fusion of native Peruvian ingredients like quinoa and lucuma with Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese influences. Plus, find refreshing takes on ceviche, superfood salads, and eclectic desserts.

For the Nostalgia Lovers

7. Cocina Criolla, Carmen Valldejuli ($26, Barnes & Noble and Amazon)

Currently only available for sale in Spanish, Cocina Criolla by Carmen Valldejuli has been a staple in Caribbean kitchens since it was published in 1983. This old-school classic is filled with charming illustrations and hundreds of authentic recipes—it offers instructions for making everything from moro de guandules to sofrito—while providing practical cooking tips and advice (even for beginner cooks!) on how to read recipes and stock your kitchen with essential equipment.

8. The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them, Karla Tatiana Vasquez ($35, Rizzoli and Amazon)

After experiencing difficulty finding recipes to recreate dishes from her childhood, Karla Tatiana Vasquez set off to write this book highlighting the El Salvadoran community through recipes and personal stories gathered from women in her family and community. Combining traditional dishes like pupusas and Rellenos de Papa with moving narratives of resilience, Vasquez preserves the voices and histories of Salvadoran women across generations.

For the Aspiring Great British Bake-Off Contestant

9. New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads, Bryan Ford ($28, Bookshop and Amazon)

Inspired by his Honduran roots and New Orleans upbringing, viral baker Brian Ford (known as @artisanbrian on Instagram) offers a fresh, approachable take on baking sourdough bread and other baked goods at home, featuring recipes for birote, bagels, and beignets, among others. Focusing on practical techniques and flavor development over perfectionism, this cookbook is a must-have for bakers of all levels with tips on how to experiment with pan de coco, challah, tortillas, Cuban muffins, and more. 

10. Chicano Bakes, Esteban Castillo ($40, Bookshop and Amazon)

Explore sweet, nostalgic notes of Chicano cuisine with recipes for desserts, tamales, pan dulce, and traditional drinks that sparkle on the cookbook’s pages through dreamy Instagram-feed-worthy photography. Drawn from his Mexican American roots and childhood memories, Esteban Castillo shares beloved recipes like tres leches cake, conchas de vainilla, churro cheesecake, and tamales de elote.

11. Bodega Bakes, Paola Velez ($35, Bookshop and Amazon)

This debut cookbook from the co-founder of the organization Bakers Against Racism is a joyful celebration of Paola Velez’s childhood and Dominican heritage that invites you to bring the magic of bodegas into your kitchen. With more than 100 accessible and playful recipes highlighting the colorful character of corner stores, Velez showcases her blend of expertise and experimentation through recipes like pineapple empanadillas (a Caribbean classic) and her signature Thick’ems cookies.

For the Vegetarian or Vegan (…or Just Plain Veggie Lover)

12. Abuela’s Plant-Based Kitchen: Vegan Cuisine Inspired by Latin & Caribbean Family Recipes, Karla Salinari ($30, Bookshop and Amazon)

Drawing from her Puerto Rican upbringing, health coach Karla Salinari shows readers that they can still indulge in satisfying meals with complex flavors centered around plant-based ingredients. This cookbook shows you how to utilize chickpea water, tempeh, and tofu to carry on multigenerational cooking traditions. Dishes like garbanzo stew with plantain balls, Cuban-style picadillo, and coconut flan prove meat- and dairy-free comfort food doesn’t have to come at the expense of taste, making it an excellent cookbook for anyone with dietary restrictions or food allergies.

For the Grill Master of the Family

13. Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, Francis Mallmann ($40, Bookshop and Amazon)

A deep dive into mastering cooking with fire, this 2009 James Beard Award-winning cookbook shares primal techniques for sophisticated palettes. With show-stopping recipes like whole boneless ribeye with chimichurri, salt-crusted ctriped bass, and dulce de leche pancakes, renowned Argentine chef Francis Mallmann introduces readers to seven distinct grilling methods for both indoor and outdoor cooking.

For the Encyclopedic Chef

14. The Latin American Cookbook, Virgilio Martinez ($51, Bookshop and Amazon)

This comprehensive Latin American cookbook curated by a renowned Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez features over 600 recipes that praise the region’s rich and complex culinary heritage. With classic dishes like empanadas, tamales, and tacos and lesser-known specialties that are sure to be a hit at any dinner party—Chilean disco fries and Nicaraguan squash stew, anyone?—Martinez exhibits myriad influences from indigenous, European, and Asian flavors.

15. Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America, Maricel E. Presilla ($40, Amazon)

Historian and restaurateur Maricel Presilla’s ultimate guide to Latin American cuisine provides over 500 recipes that span from Mexico to Argentina and the Caribbean. This expansive cookbook has it all: traditional dishes like adobos, ceviches, tamales, and moles, as well as desserts like flan and tres leches cake.

Leah Rodriguez is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. You can follow her work on X.

When Chef JJ Johnson released “The Simple Art of Rice” in the fall, his Instagram DMs were flooded with messages like, “Oh my God, you are really Puerto Rican.”

The cookbook, spotlighting the grain’s versatility across cultures everywhere from Africa to the Middle East, opened a window into the James Beard Award winner’s Latin roots with recipes for arroz con guandules and asopoa.

Johnson recently co-hosted a Noche Buena themed-dinner with Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernández in New York City. The intimate night celebrated the comedian’s participation in Buchanan’s Whisky’s “We are the Spirit of the 200%.” Hernández, known for his viral SNL skits with Bad Bunny and Pedro Pascal, is one of the several faces of the campaign championing their equally Hispanic and American identities. When Buchannan’s plugged Johnson to kick off the brand’s “Family Cena, Vibra Buena” series, he found the concept of the initiative campaign affirming.

Johnson’s childhood in his Puerto Rican grandmother’s kitchen inspired his interest in becoming a chef and despite not being fluent in Spanish, he takes great pride in his Afro-Latin background. A Pennsylvania native with a lineage spanning the Caribbean and US South, he was eager to team up with Hernandez to create a culinary experience that paid homage to the commonalities within their home kitchens while incorporating the nuances of their respective identities.

“I think there’s a lot of people like me that have Latino heritage and are mixed Black or Asian, and the only time that they come around their heritage is around food and music,” Johnson told LATINA. “Because they might not speak Spanish, that’s their way to let people know I’m Latino, I cook this or I dance this way.”

The evening captured the cozy familiarity of la sala with a dominoes table in the corner, the nutty earthy aroma of boiling pasteles in the air, and guests bopping in their seats and at the bar to contemporary salsa and merengue remixes from DJ Bembona. Hernandez’s friends, families and fellow comedians feasted on plates Johnson hadn’t served for the public before.

“It really makes me feel good because most of this menu I cook on Noche Buena at my parents’ house to keep my grandmother alive,” the chef said.

Nostalgic comfort foods commonly found around Latin tables during the winter holiday season were in abundance. Canapes inspired by Puerto Rican street food included salty bacalaito cod fritters that left a trace of grease on the fingers, and savory yuca bites topped with tender and just fatty enough chicharon.

To preserve culture and connection to their history, many families feel beholden to Noche Buena traditions that have been passed down for decades. While Johnson made sure to honor many of the holiday’s classics, he also took the liberty of infusing his own spin. He believes that upholding cherished customs doesn’t have to mean not accommodating shifting dietary needs or preferences, and having one family member carry the burden of hosting responsibilities forever.

“It’s okay to have a vegan or vegetarian Noche Buena, it’s okay to do no pork. It’s okay to say, ‘I don’t want rice this year.’ It’s okay to say, ‘Let’s potluck it,’” he said.

Johnson opted to omit the pork typically found in arroz con guandules, and vegan empanadas with imperfect crust were stuffed with Meati mushroom filling reminiscent of ground beef cooked in a tangy sazón. A rotation of carving stations made their way through the room, one featuring a roasted cauliflower. He didn’t mess with the pernil, though; its crispy sweet skin remained intact. The coquito and Johnson’s sister’s pudin de pan recipe had extra smoky notes from Buchanan’s whisky, instead of rum, giving the sweets a smooth kick.

Normally white rice-averse, Johnson made an exception for Hernández who has strong feelings about how the side should be served. “I don’t put beans on seasoned rice so you can really taste the beans,” the comedian said.

A pollo guisado inspired by Hernández’s family made it on the table, too, and it didn’t disappoint.

“I sent him a million things, and he made the perfect selection. My Cuban mom, my Dominican cousin, my Dominican friends, everybody loved it,” he said.

Johnson’s skill for serving approachable yet inventive food has gotten him far. The Culinary Institute of America graduate, known for leading the African-diaspora-inspired kitchens at Harlem’s Minton’s and Cecil, has nods to Puerto Rican cuisine at his rice-forward fast-casual chain FieldTrip open since 2019. The spot’s bowls have some plantains here and yuca chips there, but he hasn’t always felt confident about introducing all of his favorite bold Latin dishes.

“As much as I wanna put pasteles on the menu, I’m like, will people understand pasteles even though they’re so delicious?” Johnson said.

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The coveted holiday staple that can be traced back to the Caribbean’s indigenous Taíno people, was front and center at “Family Cena, Vibra Buena.” A takeout station setup made it easy for guests to bring some home. Their moist plantain filling and tender chicken maintained the integrity of the dumplings known for being a labor of love as they came out of pots of piping hot water in the venue’s open prep kitchen. You’d never guess the banana-leaf wrapped masa was made in a food processor instead of by hand.

Johnson doesn’t think the criticism he’s received in the past from older generations for opting not to use the old school pasteles method is fair.

“You’re gonna shame me ’cause I use a food processor? Like, I have what you didn’t have back then!” he said. “As a trained chef, I’m gonna do something different than my grandmother. But the goal is for me to have all the heart and soul and the rhythm moving through the food so when you taste it, you can feel it.”

Johnson encourages others to proactively dig into their family’s recipes to gain the foundational knowledge to carry the torch of Noche Buena on their terms before it’s too late.

“You don’t want that to die out because you don’t remember how to make that recipe,” he said. “Then everybody’s complaining it doesn’t taste this way.”

There is one part of the holiday Johnson would like to do away with. Opening presents at midnight usually means not eating until late. “We could eat a regular dinner and still be Noche Buena,” he said. “The [doctors] tell us we shouldn’t eat at 9:30 p.m. anyway.”

Find recipes for some of Chef JJ’s favorite Noche Buena recipes below.

Arroz con gandules (Puerto Rican) from “The Simple Art of Rice”

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 56 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 11 minutes
Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:
● 3 cups uncooked long-grain rice
● 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
● 3 tablespoons green sofrito
● 4 ounces tomato sauce
● 1⁄2 lb smoked ham, cut into chunks
● 1/3 cup green olives stuffed with pimento
● 1 (1.41 ounces) packet sazón with Achiote
● 1 (1.41ounces) packet ham flavoring
● 1 teaspoon adobo
● 1 teaspoon garlic powder
● 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
● 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
● 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
● 1 (15 ounces) can pigeon peas, rinsed and drained
● 23 cups water

Method:
Rinse the rice in a large bowl with cool running water until the water runs clear. Strain into a
fine-mesh sieve and shake off excess water. Heat a large Dutch (6-quart) oven pot to medium
heat and add oil. Gently fry sofrito in oil for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in tomato sauce, ham
and green olives, and simmer for 3 minutes. Add sazón with achiote, ham flavoring, adobo, garlic
powder, cumin oregano and salt. Stir until all seasonings are dissolved. Add rice and pigeon
peas. Stir to combine and add water. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Reduce
heat to low and simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the
rice dish steam for 15 minutes.

Noche Buena Pasteles

Yield: 15-20 Servings
Active Time: 90 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients
For the dough — Make in a food processor
2 sweet, ripe plantains, peeled
2 green plantains, peeled
1 cup whole milk
1 yucca, approximately 1 pound, peeled and cut into chunks
1⁄2 kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1⁄2 bunch cilantro
1 Tbs. fresh oregano
1 large Spanish or white onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic
5 sweet green or multi-colored Dominican peppers
1⁄2 lb. butter at room temperature
1 packet Goya Sazón with Achiote
Salt to taste

For the Filling
Canola or other neutral oil for cooking
8 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 packet (about 1 tsp) Goya Sazón with Achiote
1 10 oz jar green olives with pimentos, drained
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock or water
salt and pepper to taste
banana leaves
parchment paper

BUCHANAN’S COQUITO

Ingredients:
(Serves 15)
· 21 oz Buchanan’s Deluxe 12YR
· 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
· 12 oz evaporated milk
· 15 oz cream of coconut
· 0.5 oz vanilla extract
· 1 tsp ground cinnamon
garnish: grated nutmeg
glassware: rocks glass

Preparation:
Mix the Buchanan’s DeLuxe 12 YR, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream of coconut, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon, stir until combined and chill before serving.

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Leah Rodriguez is a writer living in New York City covering food, culture and women’s rights.

Ride the elevator to the 11th floor of Brooklyn’s trendy new hotel Penny and you’ll find a high-end restaurant serving more than just Instagrammable city views and inventive martinis. In a cozy plant-filled dining room, beaming with natural light and whimsical sculptures, elNico showcases the multicultural heritage of its team with imaginative Mexican cuisine and Latin American-inspired drinks.

After paying her dues in some of the most respected kitchens in the world from New York’s Cosme to Mexico’s Pujol, Chef Fernanda Serrano is now leading the charge at the highly-anticipated restaurant from the Sydell Group, elNico. Her new venture, which opened this past spring, offers a glimpse into her dynamic culinary palette. She playfully blends nostalgic flavors from her childhood, spent just outside Mexico City in Pachuca, with the tastes she has encountered during her travels. Her artistic lens is evident in every dish she creates.

The 30-year-old executive chef wishes she could say her abuela’s cooking inspired her to break into the restaurant industry, but the truth is an animated film about a pesky rodent sparked Serrano’s interest in a food career. “After watching “Ratatouille,” I was like, ‘oh my God, that looks so fun,’” she tells LATINA, on a Sunday afternoon, as the restaurant prepares to start seating tables for the night. “I was into painting, but in the end I decided to study [cooking].”

elNico is Serrano’s attempt to honor tradition while turning what might be considered low-brow snacks on their head. Her pillow-soft sopes topped with crème fraîche and salsa cruda melt in your mouth, followed by an umami burst of osetra caviar. Or take the eye-popping pulpo pibil, which is inspired by Serrano’s younger self who loved smashing potato chips into sandwiches, and is an ode to her mom’s favorite protein. The dish arrives with a massive spiralized tentacle at its centerpiece, pre-chopped and ready to be stuffed into toasty tortillas, sprinkled with paper-thin house-made lime chips, doused in tangy xnipec salsa, and coated with a creamy garlic Lebanese-style toum sauce.

“I want to [showcase] street foods that are not so well known in American culture,” Serrano says. “This small bite or this street food thing can be upscale.”

Serrano’s dishes are complemented with colorful cocktails, like tomato margaritas and cantaloupe palomas. Formerly the executive sous chef at the NoMad Hotel London, another hotel hotspot from the owners of Penny, Serrano teamed up with fellow NoMad alumni, beverage director Leo Robitschek and bar director Cristhian Rodriguez, to create a dining experience that spotlights the Latin American diaspora.

“Dinner is so important for Latin families because it’s when everyone is at home, sharing their day and a meal,” Serrano says. “We wanted our guests to experience that warmness.”

With Robitschek hailing from Venezuela, and Rodriguez from Peru, the trio’s shared cultural reverence for the moments that occur around meals is the project’s glue. A spirit of collaboration among the team has also promoted more sustainable practices in the restaurant’s kitchen, where local produce is sourced from urban farms. The pastel-pink sauce in the scallop aguachile, for example, inspired by a Thai galangal coconut milk, came about after Serrano tried a lacto-fermented gooseberry that Robitschek was about to discard after squeezing out its juice.

“From his side [of the bar] or from my side [of the kitchen], we’re like, okay, maybe I can create something with this ingredient, or maybe we can try to see if we can co-create something,” Serano says.

Although she traded her paintbrushes for paring knives, Serrano notes that introducing new recipes doesn’t feel that different from debuting a piece of art. Discovering the work of restaurateurs like Massimo Bottura, who’s known for channeling a love of music and art into the dishes at Milan’s Osteria Francescana, expanded her perspective to view food as another artistic medium.

“I can express that side of me on my platings,” Serrano says. “I love painting, but that doesn’t mean that painting only has to be done on a piece of paper, I can do that on my dishes too.”

Her appreciation of color shines throughout elNico’s menu, from a neon-green sikil pak cabbage with notes of tarragon and bits of sourdough, to the tangy pink sesame-based mole that embraces the complex gradient of beets. Serrano’s vegetarian interpretation of mole borrows inspiration from a beet tahini salad she tried in Greece that reminded her of the consistency of the Mexican staple. A fall take on the traditional sauce is in the works to celebrate white pipian, a pumpkin seed mole, and the changing of the seasons. “But mine is sunflower seed paste,” she says. “And I grabbed butternut squash, and roasted it so it’s a little darker. I use fresh squash, it’s a little brighter, and I use the same seeds. It’s kind of [like] the shades of the leaves during the fall.”

Before pouring all of her creative energy into launching elNico, Serrano took a hiatus from cooking to recharge. After seeing some peers leave the industry, she wasn’t sure she’d return, and worried about how her hiatus might be perceived.

“I took a year-long break from cooking because I was feeling burnt out, and I was feeling so sad,” she says. “I was just like, ‘how are people gonna see [me]? What are people going to think of [me]?’”

“The Bear,” an unfiltered television portrayal of the unglamorous reality of restaurants, resonates with Serrano. The hit show was an early bonding moment for her and her boyfriend when they met while working at the NoMad, and helped her family of mostly lawyers finally grasp why she’d often come home exhausted and covered in burns.

It didn’t take long for Serrano to bounce back, and this period of rest reinvigorated her dedication to the craft. “I discovered that this is my true passion. I enjoy every single minute I spend in the kitchen,” she says.

After witnessing and finessing the art of perfection in fine dining environments, Serrano is uplifting Mexican cuisine on her own terms. She credits acclaimed chef Daniela Soto-Ineess, a mentor and friend, for both inspiring her and loosening her up while they worked together at Cosme. “She basically grabbed me and said ‘don’t be so stiff.’”

Soto-Ineess helped raise the bar for Mexican food in the city, and Tex-Mex is no longer the standard, according to Serano. “Now people don’t really think that Mexican food is cheap,” she says, adding that there’s a broader frame of reference and appreciation for the cuisine. “People know more about masa now. It was so hard for people to [understand] how a tortilla was made.”

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Leah Rodriguez is a writer living in New York City covering food, culture and women’s rights.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Jessa Williams always participated in sports, but surfing wasn’t on her radar in the midwestern city. Once she moved to L.A. for work and her son got hooked on the surfing during the pandemic, after some convincing, she finally gave it a try and eventually gained the confidence to paddle out on her own. But Williams had an experience out on the water that would’ve turned many other women of color away from surfing completely –– a white man threatened her to “get the f*ck out of the ocean.”

Rather than let the negative interaction sour surfing for her forever, Williams channeled her rage into something positive and founded Intrsxtn, a group that supports other surfing women of color.

“I want them to know that all of the beauty of connecting with the ocean, all of the healing that it can provide, that it is for us, too,” Williams told LATINA. “We can give ourselves permission to be there, to explore a place or a new interest, to try new things. We work so hard, especially as women of color, so we deserve time to disconnect and really just be present in the moment.”

A report by the Outdoor Industry Association found that white Americans made up seventy-two percent of overall outdoor recreation participation in 2020. This stark gap tracks, considering that communities of color are nearly three times more likely than white communities to live in areas that have no immediate access to nature including parks, paths, and green spaces.

Systemic and financial barriers often exclude people of color from participating in outdoor activities, but leaders like Williams across the country are working to level the playing field.

Evelynn Escobar launched Hike Clerb to help make the outdoors more inclusive after noticing how few people of color visited national parks. Although Escobar facilitates nature experiences for Black and brown communities on the East and West coasts, she hopes the benefits of her initiatives reach further than the outdoor scene. “Hike Clerb has been a catalyst for self-discovery beyond just the hiking community and that is what I love about our impact. It transcends hiking and outdoor recreation,” Escobar told LATINA. “It’s a vessel for self-expression, community, and healing.”

When people of color lack the opportunity to connect with nature and stay active, they don’t only miss out on entertainment, their health is at risk too. Research has shown that getting outdoors has numerous benefits, including advancing vision health, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and decreasing stress levels. For groups disproportionately impacted by poor health and disease, getting to a park for a hike or the beach for a swim can be lifesaving.

Learn about Intrsxtn, Hike Clerb, and more inclusive groups that are making outdoor activities and exploration more accessible across the US below.

Intrsxtn Surf

Founded in Los Angeles in June 2021, Intrsxtn helps create a safe space for Black and women of color to learn how to surf and be in community with other surfers who look like them. The group hosts weekly meet-ups and organizes lessons for beginners across Los Angeles. This past summer, Intrsxtn held its first surf treat in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico, and hopes to host others in the future with the community to promote rest and a place to recharge.

Hike Clerb

Evelynn Escobar founded Hike Clerb in Los Angeles in 2017 to address the lack of representation and participation of people of color in the outdoors. The collective helps equip Black, Indigenous, women of color with the tools, education, resources, and experiences they need to heal in nature in Los Angeles and beyond. Hike Clerb recently hosted a field day at New York City’s Govenor’s Island, took a group sea fishing, and held a retreat in the Palm Springs desert.

Latino Outdoors

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José González launched Latino Outdoors in 2013 in California to connect Latinx communitites with the outdoors. The nonprofit organization is creating a national community of outdoor leaders while embracing culture and family as part of the outdoor narrative and prioritizing history, heritage, and leadership. Last year, Latino Outdoors had a network of over 200 volunteers, over 100 leaders nationally, over 1,500 participants, and hosted over 100 outings including camping, hiking, biking, and kayaking events.

Brown Girls Climb

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Founded by Bethany ‘Bety’ Lebewitz in 2016 in California’s Bay Area, Brown Girls Climb aims to promote mentorship, access, leadership, and representation in the outdoors and climbing for people of color. Lebewitz started the national nonprofit to support women but the organization has broadened its focus to include all climbers while centering people most impacted by colonization and industrialization of land. Brown Girls Climb hosts meet-ups and workshops and offers discounts on gym memberships and climbing gear.

Outdoor Afro

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What started as a blog for Rue Mapp to muse on her love of nature, grew into the Oakland nonprofit organization Outdoor Afro in 2009. Outdoor Afro celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature and connects Black people with land, water, and wildlife through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. The network has chapters in 60 cities across the country and a participation network of over 60,000 people with over 100 volunteers. Outdoor Afro’s year-round activities range from fishing, hiking, biking, kayaking, gardening, skiing, and more.

Black Girls Do Bike

Monica Garrison founded Black Girls Do Bike in 2013 to support women of color who share a passion for cycling. What initially started a Facebook page for women who love to bike, grew into a nonprofit organization for cyclists to support and advise one another, organize rides, and promote skill-sharing. With a network of and a network of over 180 leaders, Black Girls Do Bike promotes bike advocacy, education, volunteerism, and safety in over a hundred chapters globally.

Latinos Run

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After not being able to find a running group for Latinos, Maria Solis Belizaire decided to take action and start her own in New York City in 2016 to honor her late mother Miriam Calderon Solis. The international organization now has a global network of over 25,000 runners to help promote running to improve physical and mental health in the Latinx community, which has historically been ignored in the health and fitness industry. Latinos Run has a global audience servicing over 25,000 runners. Latino Run’s sister group Latinas Run focuses on supporting Latina Women runners.

National Brotherhood of Skiers

Ben Finley and Art Clay founded The National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS) in 1973 during a time when African Americans were rarely seen on ski slopes. The friends wanted to create an organization to help get a black skier on the US Ski Team. Now NBS’s 57 clubs and 3,500 members nationally host events and raise funds to increase Black participation in winter sports while developing and supporting athletes of color to win international competitions.

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Leah Rodriguez is a writer living in New York City covering food, culture and women’s rights.

A few hours before his flight, Eric See sits in the backyard of his newly expanded Bedford Stuyvesant restaurant, Ursula, his phone lighting up with notifications every few minutes and his doberman Luka at his feet. The Brooklyn-based chef is leaving soon for New Mexico, where he’s picking up 1,500 pounds of green chiles and driving them back in a van. He’ll have to stop frequently to rotate the delicacies in order to keep them cool, but he’s not stressing. He’s done this trip before, and his Dad is tagging along to help.

See is preparing to host the New Mexican Chile Roast on September 5, at The Meat Hook butcher shop in Williamsburg. Freshly roasted peppers will be for sale at the event and American Culinary Corps Chef Bleu Adams will serve them up in fry bread Navajo Tacos as a mariachi band performs.

Known for its balanced heat and sweetness, the green chile embedded in New Mexican cuisine is the star of See’s beloved breakfast burrito, which attracts hangry locals and foodie tourists alike.

“It literally runs through our blood,” See says of the coveted vegetable.

From late summer to early fall, the streets of New Mexico are overpowered by the smell of green chiles barrel roasting in supermarket parking lots for customers who scoop them up to freeze for the rest of the year.

“Ursula has been, from its inception, a celebration of the intersections of my identity, of queerness, and of New Mexican heritage,” See says.

The two-time James Beard Award nominated chef, who opened Ursula after COVID forced him to close the doors of his Bushwick bakery, Awkward Scone, prioritizes fostering unique cultural experiences while serving delicious food.

During morning hours the line stretches down the block while See serves dishes inspired by his culture and upbringing but with a twist. His chile sangwiches are stuffed with fried chicken; the poblano relleno has quinoa; pancakes are made with blue corn batter; and the arroz con leche is infused with jasmine.

“Food is not static in the way that language is not, it evolves and it shifts,” he says. “We’re working to both educate, represent, and serve some things that are traditional.”

Ursula was built on a desire to honor See’s complex heritage and pay homage to his family’s Indigenous, Mexican, and Spanish lineage, which can be traced back through New Mexico, spanning the last 400 years, across shifting borders and forced displacement.

The upcoming chile roast is an opportunity to highlight the rich history of the American Southwest’s Indigenous routes, See explains. His restaurant sources chiles from New Mexico year-round, along with blue corn and beans grown on Navajo-owned farms in the state.“It’s important to maintain an economic cycle with the communities that have created the cuisine,” See says.

Reinvesting in the community is one of the key pillars at Ursula; currently 90% of the staff identify as queer. And See has earned a reputation in the industry for uplifting advocacy efforts that support marginalized groups. While working as a pastry chef at Locanda Verde in 2016, See sold his Italian rainbow cookies at the Hester Street Fair to benefit the victims of the Pulse Shooting in Orlando, Florida. Then once he had his own storefront, See continued selling the cookies, donating part of the proceeds to queer organizations, including Immigration Equality and the Ali Forney Center.

Giving back has served See well; his community has his back, too. Meeting Claire Sprouse, the owner of the now-closed Hunky Dory, while doing mutual aid distribution work led See to secure Ursula’s original Crown Heights space where the restaurant launched as a mostly take-out operation in fall 2020. Since then, the restaurant has successfully crowd-funded several times to stay afloat.

“I’ve always felt that it was very important to utilize your privilege to reallocate those resources within your community,” See says.

The queer community’s chef darling is continuing to share his platform as he gains industry recognition and lands spots on coveted ‘best of’ lists. Since Ursula moved to a bigger space in April, one of his baristas started a queer movie night screening films from Drop Dead Gorgeous to Clue in the backyard, and the restaurant has invited various guest chefs to take over the kitchen. Earlier this summer, the Caribbean restaurant Aunts et Uncles Flatbush served a vegan ackee saltfish and plantain breakfast burrito, alongside a mezcal roasted banana and nutmeg-infused daiquiri, with proceeds benefiting Love Wins Food Pantry.

The Bedford Stuyvesant location comfortably seats over 50 guests and has let See expand the drink menu to include spirits from queer, Black, femme, POC, Indigenous, and worker-cooperative-owned companies. While supporting smaller brands sometimes comes with higher prices, See hopes that placing brand bios in drink descriptions will help customers feel better about, say, spending $30 for a Mezcal Mauthia cocktail produced with ancestral techniques.

In general, price points at the restaurant and for affiliated events are set with the rapidly changing economic disparity in its predominantly Black neighborhood in mind. See strives to provide food that community members can afford — the New Chile Roast will hold a number of sliding-scale tickets for BIPOC and LGBTQ guests.

“There’s more money coming into the neighborhood, but I also don’t want to dissuade people that aren’t from this new wave of gentrification from being able to come in and afford our food,” See says. “Even within the [queer] community, we’re not an economic monolith.”

More than 22% of LGBTQ adults are living in poverty, compared to an estimated 16% of their straight and cisgender counterparts. What’s more, LGBTQ+ workers earn about 90 cents for every dollar that the typical worker earns, with queer people of color, trans and non-binary people earning even less.

Ursula’s dedication to promoting equity isn’t only external, as See works to implement socially and environmentally sustainable practices inside his own shop as well. After paying his dues for over a decade in New York City’s food scene, at times taking home $8 an hour for 7-day-a-week jobs, he wanted to create a business model that fosters a legal and fair work environment.

“I think that some owners act out of fear and that manifests itself in really unfair labor practices,” he says.

A company policy uncommon in hospitality, Ursula closes for a week in August and December to promote staff well-being and mental health. See also tries to be transparent with his team about the restaurant’s pay model.

“I’m not gonna retire off of this,” he says. Once the restaurant can turn a profit the plan is to reinvest it into staff bonuses.

Compared to other workplaces, Ursula cook and barista Maia Hernandez, who worked in construction before entering the restaurant industry, said she finds comfort at the restaurant knowing their coworkers are committed to protecting each other.

“We’re often encouraged to just be ourselves at work; [it’s] nice to not have to tone it down,” they said.

Ursula staff have no problem kicking out customers who discriminate against staff or make them feel uncomfortable, according to Hernandez.

“It’s easy to talk and be like, ‘we’re an inclusive environment,’ but it’s another thing to actually put your money where your mouth is,” they added.

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Leah Rodriguez is a writer living in New York City covering food, culture and women’s rights.

A sea of fuschia and pastel girl boss suits eagerly filed into a warehouse venue in Brooklyn on an early Friday morning for a jam-packed agenda at the 2023 Vegan Women Summit (VWS).

On May 19th, attendees fueled up on Impossible sausage stuffed breakfast burritos for a weekend-long marathon of panels, networking and taste testing. The three-day experience kicked off the night before at Gracie Mansion for a VIP Welcome Reception with one of New York City’s most talked about vegans, Mayor Eric Adams.

Jennifer Stojkovic, a Silicon Valley tech vet with Google, Facebook and the book “The Future of Food is Female” on her resume, launched the VWS in 2020 virtually due to the pandemic. She hosted its inaugural in-person event in Los Angeles in 2022 — featuring entrepreneurs, aspiring business owners, activists and tastemakers from around the world who are invested in building a more equitable and diverse representation of women leaders.

Stojkovic founded the VWS after noticing the untapped potential of women, specifically women of color, in the food tech space. Black and brown communities are the leading group turning towards plant-based and vegan diets. A Gallop poll conducted in 2021 found that 31% of nonwhite respondents cut back on their meat consumption within the year prior compared to 19% of white respondents. Black and Latinx people –– a demographic disproportionately impacted by heart disease and diabetes, who lacks equal access to preventive and quality health care –– are motivated to consume less meat in an attempt to improve their health, but it’s not always an option in communities rife with food insecurity. The leaders who attended VWS are fighting against the notion that the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle should be a last resort, or are only attainable if you’re affluent and white.

Black and Latinx leaders were front and center at the East Coast edition of the VWS where over 1,100 guests rallied around the sold-out summit’s theme to build community and compassionate movement building.

The VWS buzzed with excitement for a diverse group of 100 speakers and panelists –– over 80% of whom were women of color –– in conversations from “How To Build an Inclusive Plant-Based Brand” to “Is Food as Medicine the Solution to the Healthcare Crisis?” Cleveland-based Chef Sonia Steele of Konscious Kuisine took home the prize in a Top Chef-inspired challenge where vegan chefs went head to head for a panel of high-profile judges including CEOs from mock meat brands Tindle and Impossible. Attendees indulged in the festival’s samples and catering as they rubbed elbows with superstar vegan influencers like celebrity chef Priyanka Naik; author Joanne Lee Molinaro, known as The Korean Vegan; and YouTuber Radhi Devlukia-Shetty​​. DJ Amor bumped Bad Bunny while kombucha flowed in the food truck courtyard where Mr. Charlie’s served up “chicken” Tindle nuggets out of McDonald’s “frowny meal” boxes. Tokyo-based artist Mamimozi also painted live calligraphy.

Women of color are actively changing the narrative about veganism within their communities by debunking common misconceptions, fostering inclusivity, promoting accessibility, fighting injustices, investing in future generations and calling for more capital.

We gathered some of the main takeaways from Black and Latinx speakers and leaders at VSW on the state of the plant-based movement in communities of color, and the changes they’d like to see.

Veganism Doesn’t Have to Come at the Cost of Culture

Going vegan or vegetarian can sometimes feel like a cultural sacrifice.

Author and Chef Dora Stone, a participant in the VWS’s Top Chef competition, has received pushback online for the vegan adaptations of Mexican classics she posts on her blog Dora’s Table. While Stone uses her platform to show her community that a vegan diet doesn’t have to break the bank or traditions, she’s still been accused of trying to change how Mexican Americans eat.

“[The Mexican community feels] very protective of it, and I understand,” Stone said. “I do receive a lot of messages from people saying that they thought that when they chose veganism, they were rejecting their culture. They thought they were never gonna be able to have their abuelita’s pozole, which is not true.”

While spending time in Oaxaca recently to work on her first cookbook, Stone learned about meatless recipes passed down for generations. Easy substitutes and simple meals can make plant-based dishes more accessible, without pricey alternatives. For example, enchiladas can be made with vegetables instead of animal protein and walnut “meat” works well as a sope topping, Stone explained.

“We could go back to our roots and focus on the food that we know already,” she said. “You could still have the flavor, you could still honor the tradition and you could still share that in the community.”

Gender Stigma Gives Veganism a Bad Rap

When food is also deeply ingrained in identity, the idea of changing diets can be perceived as a threat to someone’s sense of self.

Leah Garces, CEO and president of the animal protection organization Mercy for Animals, has seen a direct link between toxic masculinity and high meat consumption.

“There is an unfortunate misconception in our community that you need to eat meat to be healthy, and even worse for our men, that it’s like a machismo thing to eat meat,” Garces told LATINA. “It couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Gender stigma can also perpetuate harmful misinformation about plant-based products. Deborah Torres, the founder behind the Shark Tank-winning meat alternative brand Atlas Monroe, a VWS sponsor, has seen it firsthand.

“The myth about soy is that it has estrogen that causes men to have breasts or something,” Torres told LATINA. “Like, are you joking?”

Such myths might be responsible for men accounting for just 24% of vegans in the US. More representation of marginalized communities within the plant-based space can help mitigate barriers to entry, according to Garces.

“There’s a misconception that vegan food is unattainable for low-income people,” she said. “That’s why we need more faces, people of color, people from our communities showing another way.”

The Animal Rights and Human Rights Movements are Inextricably Linked

Supporting the animal welfare movement presents an opportunity to promote racial justice.

Meatpackers — who are forced to work in unsafe conditions for low wages — are disproportionately people of color and immigrants — 44% are Latino and 25% are Black, according to an analysis by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Mass food production, even if plant-based, is not exempt from unethical labor practices, but Garces explained that slaughterhouses in particular are driving the exploitation and abuse of Latin American immigrants, including children.

“They are folks that are kept in intentionally vulnerable situations with low political power, because if they could vote, they could change the system, and they could change the way that they’re treated,” she said. “There is a real need to stand up and protect our communities, and how they are being abused in our food system.”

Being a Woman of Color in Food Tech Can Be an Advantage

While food tech isn’t an exception to the predominantly male and white-dominated startup world, Veronica Garcia-Arteaga, who is behind the convincing jiggly faux egg brand Neggst, said her Mexican identity has given her confidence as an entrepreneur.

Garcia-Arteaga launched the plant-based egg brand in Berlin in 2022. Intimated at first, she didn’t let her limited German language skills stop her from pitching the brand.

“It’s a barrier to be a Latina somewhere else that is not my country,” she told Latina. “But there’s nobody else that works harder than us. You are an immigrant and then you have made your way through it. Every time I meet another Latino or an immigrant in Europe making their own company, it’s inspiring to hear the stories.”

Room for Latinx food-tech leaders is opening up, she said, “We were kind of competing against each other, but now I feel like we are really creating a larger community, a supportive one.”

Investing in the Youth Can Build a More Sustainable Future

Giving back to the Latinx community is key for Yesenia Ramdass who is behind the Queens Trinidadian and Dominican restaurant Healthy As a Motha, where she’s made a conscious effort to employ young people of color.

Ramdass remembers struggling to find a job as a teenager because she didn’t have experience, so she enjoys the challenge of fostering young talent. Younger generations — who are more educated on animal welfare, climate change and health issues — are more likely to adopt a plant-based diet than their boomer parents, and even millennial peers.

“The time is now to really target these young minds to think differently, to have an entrepreneurial mindset, to be passionate, to live with purpose,” Ramdass told Latina.

Growing up, Ramdass remembers living off of fast food chains like KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King in Washington Heights, New York’s predominately Dominican neighborhood.

“It was the right price, and you think with your budget, not really your mind,” she said. “It’s no coincidence that when you go uptown you see all these fast food joints, and then when you go to lower Manhattan there’s a Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.”

Corporations Target Black and Brown Communities With Unhealthy Food

Low-income neighborhoods in New York City aren’t the only places in the US where junk food is easier to come by than farmer’s markets. People of color across the country are more likely to be victims of food apartheid with limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. In majority-Black neighborhoods, convenience stores are more common than supermarkets, and 1 in 5 Black households in the US lives in a food desert. What’s more, 15% of Latinx people in the US live in lower-income areas where supermarkets are few and far between.

During the conversation “Why Black Women are the Most Powerful Vegan Consumer,” actress and activist Persia White recalled a childhood in the Bahamas where economic status didn’t determine what her family could and couldn’t eat.

White, a vegan champion before it was trendy, told LATINA she was almost fired from her role on the hit show ”Girlfriends” for supporting an anti-fur campaign. Now the co-producer of the 2005 animal rights documentary “Earthlings” is empowering Black people to reconnect with the plant foods from their heritage.

“We come from places with beans and legumes and then you come to America where it’s fast food and the culture shifts,” White said. When processed foods are sold as cultural staples, traditions are lost, she explained.

“That’s new influence from corporations that want to earn our dollars. We’ve been literally fed a type of food that a lot of the corporations that put it in our neighborhood aren’t consuming themselves,” White said.

Diverse Businesses Need Funding

As the plant-based market becomes oversaturated with processed food products, Isabella Iglesias-Musachio, founder of the mycelium filets and cutlets brand Bosque Foods, sees room for more diverse and healthier food options. Iglesias-Musachio thinks founders and leaders of color can lead the charge if they’re enabled to build their own food businesses.

“Everyone loves burgers, everyone loves chicken wings, chicken nuggets,” Iglesias-Musachio told LATINA.

“They’re very good products. It’s done, right? We don’t need more of that. We need more unique products that are actually representing different types of foods, different types of cuisines from around the world.”

Empowering chefs and entrepreneurs with unique lived experiences and perspectives to lead the plant-based movement requires investment through funding, Iglesias-Musachio explained.

While the number of Latino business owners grew 34% from 2007 to 2019, funding for women and people of color declined in 2020. But only 2% of women receive venture capital funding with .64% for Latina founders and .41% for Black founders.

“It’s enabling people who might not typically think of themselves or think that they can actually build those businesses to do that,” Iglesias-Musachio said. “A lot of it comes down to giving people a platform, giving people an opportunity, and then backing them with financial support.”

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Leah Rodriguez is a writer living in New York City covering food, culture and women’s rights.